Fort Bragg’s Sherwood Oak Health Center’s Administrator Will Maloney confirmed this afternoon that yesterday a third patient of the facility has died due to complications related to COVID-19.
At this point, five total Mendocino County residents have passed due to complications related to the virus including three patients of the Sherwood facility, one Mendocino County resident in a Marin rehabilitation center, and another passed in Willits’s Howard Memorial Hospital.
Maloney provided an overview of the spread of COVID-19 within the facility: currently, five residents tested positive for the virus, seven staff members on leave after testing positive, nine residents “in observation” meaning they were nearby a patient that tested positive, two residents that have recovered, two residents in local hospitals due to complications related to the virus, and a total of three residents who have passed away due to the illness. Maloney said this makes for a total of 17 COVID-19 patients originating from the facility.
Maloney described a trio of nurses that are dedicated to treating the facility’s COVID-19 patients. He described them dressing in thorough personal protection equipment and isolating at home. After weeks of working exclusively with COVID-19 patients, those three nurses have yet to test positive for the virus.
When asked how the facility is responding to the growing caseload, Maloney explained their protocols currently are strict: “we are isolating all residents, temperature checks are being conducted, visitors are not allowed, we are doing all we can.”
Maloney described a significant barrier to stopping the virus’s spread is the current 72-96 hour wait to get testing results: “Between the time one of our residents or staff takes the test and when we get the results, those individuals could have been exposing others to the virus.”
